Elfego Baca always wanted to be a lawman. At the age if 19, he obtained a mail-order sheriff's badge, appointed a friend or two as deputy sheriff's and concocted a method to clean the town of Socorro, New Mexico of its riffraff and seedy characters. Baca sent out letters to the felons in town, claiming he had warrants for their arrest. They either must surrender or risk being shot on sight.